乳酸传统上被认为是糖酵解产生的代谢废物，自从发现肿瘤细胞中的瓦尔堡效应以来，乳酸重新引起了科学界的兴趣。大量研究证明，乳酸可以促进血管生成并损害肿瘤微环境中免疫细胞的功能。然而，控制这些生物功能的精确分子机制仍然没有得到充分的了解。最近，人们发现乳酸可以诱导翻译后修饰，即乳酰化，这可能有助于深入了解乳酸的非代谢功能。值得注意的是，通过乳酰化对蛋白质进行翻译后修饰已成为乳酸调节细胞过程的重要机制。本文概述了乳酸酸化的发现，概述了负责蛋白质乳酰化的潜在“书写者”和“擦除者”，概述了不同生物体中的蛋白质乳酰化模式，并讨论了乳酰化的多种生理作用。此外，文章重点介绍了蛋白质乳酰化在病理过程中调节功能的最新研究进展，并强调了其对未来研究的科学意义。© 2024。作者。

Lactic acid, traditionally considered as a metabolic waste product arising from glycolysis, has undergone a resurgence in scientific interest since the discovery of the Warburg effect in tumor cells. Numerous studies have proved that lactic acid could promote angiogenesis and impair the function of immune cells within tumor microenvironments. Nevertheless, the precise molecular mechanisms governing these biological functions remain inadequately understood. Recently, lactic acid has been found to induce a posttranslational modification, lactylation, that may offer insight into lactic acid's non-metabolic functions. Notably, the posttranslational modification of proteins by lactylation has emerged as a crucial mechanism by which lactate regulates cellular processes. This article provides an overview of the discovery of lactate acidification, outlines the potential "writers" and "erasers" responsible for protein lactylation, presents an overview of protein lactylation patterns across different organisms, and discusses the diverse physiological roles of lactylation. Besides, the article highlights the latest research progress concerning the regulatory functions of protein lactylation in pathological processes and underscores its scientific significance for future investigations.© 2024. The Author(s).